Father to his son

Moments will come, moments will go 
With some sweet and some bitter songs at your bow

There will be time when it will be  heavy rain

Promise me you won’t let it wash your aim

There will be time when sun will be at  top

Promise me you won’t let it your fight stop

Moments will come, moments will go

With some sweet and some bitter songs at your bow

There will be people to say your chances of winning are remote

Promise me you will still keep up hope

There will be friends who will leave you in the battle

Promise me you will still prove your mettle

Moments will come, moments will go

With some sweet and some bitter songs at your bow

There will be time when I will also move away

Promise me you will still keep on with the way

In the end it will not matter even if I am not there

Because this promise will make me alive with every success you achieve as my successor


Moments will come, moments will go 

With some sweet and some bitter songs at your bow

(Poem based on  feelings which my father expressed, when I met him after demise of my beloved grandffather)

Happy Bday

Innumerable people come in our lives, stay for some period and then physically leave the place but some of them still continue to live in us because they belong to the esteemed class of teachers. Among those "Architects of my Life", there was one such person, whose Birthday is today but i can't wish him, because physically he left this world five months back. He has been a teacher, a friend, a moral builder, a spiritual awakener............ everything for me. If he would not have been in my life, specially in the early years of childhood, possibly I would also have been running in the rat-race of earning money ignoring the stark deprivation which people around us in different parts of the world are facing. Prof. Channiwala was not wrong when he asked my parents that he often wondered that there must be some other great teacher also behind this student of mine . Channiwala sir wanted to him, but then it couldn't happen....

My vocabulary doesn't have words for expressing my gratitude to the enlightened soul.
Down the years in my life, If I will be able to do something worthwhile for the suffering masses across the world, it would be my greatest guru-dakshina to  this "Architect of my Life" who has in one way or the other made me realize the essence of life.
Happy Bday Nanaji

Vidharbha Farmers Suicide

As they say, problems are often blessings in disguise, (might be an optimistic view of looking at things), loosing Jharkhand project and what all followed aftermath started a new chapter. Somnath Sir (VP of the organization i m working with & next one in the list of Architect's of my life) gave a free hand to evolve the development projects which i intend to do, and so the journey has begun again!!.
Most probably immediate step would be to devise some support program in Vidharbha. I was reading through the reports of farmers suicide and factors leading to it, got reminded of the "Narayanpur Express" simulation game during IRMA induction. That simulation game had  touched me from within, when as a farmer with 2 acres of land and one buffalo with 4 members to feed under the vagaries of pest attack, uncertain rain and variable subsidy  policy of the government, with my partner in the game Samantha we had to sell  more than half of the land at the end of imaginary 3 years of the game. I felt very miserable selling the land which was the only asset in the game for me as a farmer but then that's what farmers face in reality which was just a 4-5 hour game for us. While reading through the suicide cases of Vidharbha,  misery and vulnerability of their life appeared vividly, but as promised to Somnath sir, this time tears are withheld within the heart to ignite the cause v are striving for.

Future is yet to unfold

The thursday

This thursday(24th sept), I shouldn't say was a bad day but indeed I can't call it a good day too. Our Jharkhand rural electrification project was lost, due to some changes in bureaucratic circle in the ministry at the last stage of approval. Loosing or getting a project funded is part and parcel for all not-for-profit organizations, but then this project could have positively impacted lives of some 500 odd families in the two villages, children in these villages would have got light to study in the night (day time  they have to support their parents on field or in forest), some local enterprise (wheat four mill/ rice dehusking) would have come up with the electricity in place, rabi crops could have been possible with irrigation ................ but all this now got delayed with this....till we get some other donor to support the project.

I might sound pessimistic but at times I feel very suffocated, we are witnessing the problem, with some professional training (thanks to IRMA) and bit of experience evolved after discussing with the rural community we develop some solution but then we have to sit helpless till it fits in the policy agenda of donors. (now which has tilted to climate change issues).....

Was just thinking about alternatives to this... the buzzword these days are social enterprises..as a panacea to this dependence on donor.. but the way its being driven makes me feel ..it has got too much of enterprise and social is somewhere lost... young entrepreneurs r meddling into as it seems to be an easy option for establishing their ventures on the name of social...(i m sorry if i sound offensive but i think these social entrepreneurs should really ask their conscience how much is really social)
Got reminded of the e first page of our TAU in Managing Cooperatives course, where Dr. Kuriens (for those who are not familiar with this name- Amul and White revolution are credited to him/) statement which meant "Till date I have not found any better alternative form of organization than co-operatives to really involve people and uplift their socio-economic status..........."
But then setting up co-operatives in naxal affected areas (co-ops have to have democratically elected functionaries) of India or civil war affected areas of sub-saharan africa demands a lot..

Newer structures of producer company also have not shown much promise......
.....Quest is still on.........Some solution has to be found out......as we say at IRMA..
."If  we won't..... who will ?"

7th Experiment contd..

As discussed in last post, we (Winrock- the ngo with which i m working currently) have put of a decentralized power plant which provides electricity to the village and gets fuelled by seeds from Jatropha plant.

I will be sharing one of the most amazing experience which i got while discussing with the villagers here . In all the villages i have been, my focus has been to ascertain ownership feeling of the project by the village community. This project has been an altogether different experience.

While discussing with the villagers, i tried to elicit the sense of ownership and asked them "whose power plant is this" and to my surprise they said (in chattisgariya....one of our village representative helped me in understanding what he said) its ours-all villagers , i interrogated further and in order to confuse them i said how can it be yours..it should be of winrock or operators or government...one of them replied "साहब , इस प्लांट को लगवाने में हमने सहयोग दिया, जत्रोफा का पौधा हमारे श्रम दान से लगा, हम बीज इकठ्ठा करके देते हैं तब बिजली पैदा होती है और उस बिजली से हमारे घर में लाइट आती है, तब तोह ये हमारा ही हुआ न"
Needless say this is what is the ideal state any development intervention seeks to attain where the beneficiary's get the ownership sense of the project.

"Rekindling the dreams" continues.............................

7th Experiment -"Rekindling the dreams"

7th Experiment begins tomorrow.

When sun sets, the kingdom of darkness rises in close to one lakh villages of the country. Few years back, Ranidehra village in Kabirdham district of Chattisgarh used be one of the representatives of the unspoken and unlighted lives of people in such remote areas. Situation would have been the same today if people in the village and their Panchayat representatives had not shown willingness to join in one of the unique experiments in the field of rural electrification. With a firm faith on local villagers capability to initiate, organize and manage resources, Winrock the NGO I currently working with, envisioned a decentralized electrification power plant for the village to be fuelled using straight Jatropha oil which was never attempted before, either within, or outside the country . The objective of the pilot initiative was to demonstrate the technical and financial viability of running a small decentralized power plant using non-edible vegetable oil as fuel in place of conventional diesel to provide rural electricity.

This project within one year has to be transferred back to rural community for self management which is the ideal situation for any NGO before it removes itself from a project.

Addressing local issues in organizing people, raising capacity of the people to take ownership of the power plant, and most importantly, the linkage between access to energy and the improvement in the quality of life for the villagers have been attempted with utmost commitment . Ownership by local people is always easier said than done. This study which begins from tomorrow is to identify potential areas which can hinder the long term sustainability of the project and develop suitable mechanisms to tackle them. This becomes more important in the light of fact, that government has asked us to replicate this project in 5 villages in Jharkhand.

More-over focus will be on benefit mapping for the local populace thereby giving inputs for policy on rural electrification

Fully congnizant that we can't become sun to light lives but we can atleast become a small lamp.

Let's hope the lamp "Rekindles the dreams"

The telephone under the table

One telephonic conversation shaked my beliefs towards the cause of development. I had to put seriuous questions is it really possible the environment which is prevalent....well I won;t keep the suspense prolonged..........

We had sent a proposal for preparing master plan for solar city Moradabad. On the day of decision, I received a telephone call from Municipal Corporation of the city and person on the other side initially asked some technical questions related to the project and then indirectly asked for bribe for approving the proposal. For that moment I felt shocked, i thought may be i have heard it wrong ( in the last week's post, i had put high admiration for the municipal corporation officers of Dehradun) and asked him to repeat wat he said.....and just that;'s the end, he recieved nice scolding from me and the headset hanged and I knew our proposal was now rejected but I was very happy that atleast credibility of our NGO remained intact.

I don't know whatever best efforts one may put in for improving the lives of downtrodden, presence of such people in the systems will defeat all our endeavours. I am clueless. Someone will have to take a crusade against this "The telephone call under the table"............But Who .....The immediate saviour which our mind creates is we will need some authority to stop this, I hold a slightly different view.

I think answer lies within us. No Crusade (whether by PM or investigating agencies) will work unless it comes from common mass like us. We need to firmly resolve for day today small acts where if not all most of us fall prey to incognitively.

We need to commit to OURSELF that we won;t in anycase give bribe to

* TC in train for confirming the ticket, * Traffic personal for savings some 50-100 odd bugs *getting the LPG cylinder through black .........................I need not elaborate.

The Crusade must begin at the personal level............

Afterall its governor's oath ceremony.

Dehradun-Solar City Master Plan- This is the first full fledged assignment now about to complete in my first 4 month stint at Winrock.
Project as regards to its goals is very ambitious and aims at meeting 10% electricity demand through renewables and energy conservation measures. In almost all cities specially in northern India average power cut is around 2-3 hours which is bound to increase unless some measures are taken up and when this is the condition of cities, villages are even worse.

We were given a task to prepare a master plan which will incorporate energy planning and implementation mechanism. The whole process of preparing this plan revealed several dynamics which prevail across. Most important among these is the removal of bias against government servants. To my surprise i found few people in nagar nigam dehradun who are pushing things and intend to do a good job. Infact city engineer used to sit late till 7:30.
I was wondering if there are good change makers (even though few) why the process is slow. Possibly the last day of the visit, today, gave the answer. Municipal Commissioner and City Engineer had been trying for arranging a meeting with some other departments from where we can get more inputs for energy planning. Initially the date for the said meeting was 3rd, then got shifted to 4th and finally to 6th..thereby extending my stay here. About today they were pretty sure, but out of the blow came another hammer which struck everyone.
My Goodness "His Majesty, Governor had to take oath today", so all government officials had to make arrangements for the ceremony and therefore our meeting with those government officials never happened. I also couldn't;t afford to extend the trip beyond today due to my other assignments.
I dont intend to say that oath ceremony should not be there, infact Governor is the constitutional head of the state. My only contention is, in a country where have so many things in line to bring about improvement and where there are just few committed people to bring those changes, can we afford such pomp and show. Since I was privileged enough to have direct access to higher officials my problem was possibly minuscule, but i wonder there may be many people whose most urgent task's would have got stuck up and they cannot raise a voice also because "

Afterall its governor's oath ceremony.

Was That Really Bad?

Preface

What is a weed? Waldo said “It's the plant whose virtues are not been identified yet”. With a belief that same holds true for we, human beings we present this book. All of us are created unique and have some or other qualities often hidden and unknown to self. When we read through history books we find some individuals who have left an indelible mark on the pages of time. Were they different?, Yes they were, infact as all of us are, only thing they did was they identified this difference, this uniqueness and excelled in it. Most importantly they used their so-seeming failures as stepping stones for success. We analyzed lives of such people and found that most often than not they all hold some common life philosophies which strengthened them when they appeared in the midst of losing everything. Assuming ourselves like weeds whose qualities are yet to be deciphered, we thought of creating a “life-lesson book” which can serve as both as a fertilizer and pesticide for revealing the wonders this weed can do for the world. Someone said “The opposite of talking isn't listening; the opposite of talking is waiting”. Therefore we decided to create a script which interacts with you while you read, which gives you chance to analyze your own life incidents with the illustrative stories and keeps you as close to reality as possible. Hence we present before you not just a “Self-Help Book” but a “Self-Help Workbook”.

If you have seen the movie “Forest-Gump” you would easily recall “My Momma always said life was like a box of chocolates… you never know what you are gonna get.” We at times label certain events as “bad” as they didn't happen, the way we wanted them. We cry, shout back and mourn over such “bad” incidents. The failure in an exam, defeat in a game, losing an election, spoiling of business, death of a dear-one, missing of an important appointment or could be anything “bad” we can think of.

Life moves ahead and we find that so seeming bad incident shapes some important incident in later part of our life. The learning, the experience, the frustration of the “bad” moment somewhere down the line becomes a source of moving ahead. This book is all about connecting these so-seeming bad incidents and facilitating you understand that these all were actually blessing in disguise.

Before we begin our journey, let us set the platform for you. The two anchors “Chirag” & “Rachana” bring about life stories of six old friends who meet each other in an alumni reunion and share their life experiences. These friends in a subtle sense had been following what they call as “WHHR” “Whatever Happens, happens for reason”. The two anchors Chirag and Rachana will gradually compare, analyze and help you evolve the principles of life in the chapter-series called “Manthan” interwoven across the life stories of these friends. The flow of chapters is very scientifically designed. First two chapters share life stories where we will see how belief in WHHR led two of these friends come out of tragic situations and transform their lives. Third chapter analyzes life stories of these two friends from psychological point of view. It shows how our thought constructs restrict us from acting upto full potential and lead to frustration and despair. We will see how WHHR physiologically helps us recognize these hindering thought constructs and pushes us ahead with a rejuvenated energy. Fourth chapter shares life story of another key member of the group. The role of WHHR in his life is analyzed through basic concepts of life energy philosophy and this lets us understand how WHHR is scientifically true. Fifth & Sixth chapter present the life stories of the remaining two members and reflect how WHHR connects for progress of our lives in spiritual sense.

Just try to reflect some (so-seeming) bad incident in your life and for a moment assume it didn't happen, do you find some of your great achievement or happiness obtained at later phase of life being obliterated. Life and all incidents, people whom we meet, problems we face & opportunities we receive all have some forbearing on our future course of action. At times the forbearing turns the entire course of life. Let's jot down those incidents in this workbook and “Try to join dots of life working backwards”.

May be next time when you feel like mourning over some incident you may like to recall “Was that really bad?” and you will shout at Murphy who said “If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something”.

Happy Reading Ahead !!!!

Arun Pandey & Sharda Gautam

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are looking publishers for this book whose preface u read just now, would be grateful if you can give co-ordinates of anyone whom you know or aware of

Dr. Kurien and Mr. Jyoti Basu

Mr. Jyoti Basu (Long term Chief Minister of West Bengal) and Dr. Kurien (Father of Indian White Revolution) both have been suffering from illness since long time. I was just swapping over the news channels. “When Mr. Jyoti Basu was taken to hospital, when he was sent back to home, which all doctors are taking care of him at home…….and what not was shown in detail. On the other hand Dr. Kurien (88) little younger than Mr. Basu (96) was admitted in critical condition in Bombay and now at his daughter’s home in Chennai didn’t find a few seconds spot on any of the news channels.

I don’t know what contribution Mr. Basu has made to the country or to West Bengal as the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal (people from this state might be able to tell) for making it developed (either in industrial or in social terms) that his illness deserved so much attention of media but I do know and I am sure people who have even a bit of awareness about “Bharat” (different from India) know that Dr, Kurien had been instrumental in making the country which earlier imported milk as self reliant and one of his dream organization Amul is rated among top 21 milk producer’s organization in the world. He has spent his whole life creating farmer’s organizations so that MNC’s are not able to rob rural populace of their due share.

I don’t intend to compare the two people (nor I deem myself capable of) nor I intend to criticize the media (afterall it’s a reflection of viewers choice !! ) but I do sincerely feel that if someone from media group (tv or newspaper) reads blog this do try to give a little space to the living Crusader of India’s post freedom development.

today

Yesterday I completed my first 3 months in the development sector and tomorrow will be completing the quarter century of life.

Was just looking back in an attempt to join the dots.

Life till now had been very comforting with if's and buts of health problems. With whatever dreams i took the voyage in the ocean of social work i feel if not good but atleast it has got a decent start. Recently had a talk with one of my colleague at NIT-Surat Subodh Tyagi, he remarked that -sharda i don;t know much about the things but atleast u have been able to pursue wat u dreamt while many had to leave on the way. I think Almighty has been gracious enough to support me with people whom i call as "Architects of my life" to enable me in this "experiment with reforms".

Future is uncertain- i still don;t know what good i will be rendering to the society at large and specially the sub-saharan africans, but as of now trying to evolve mechanisms for making rural community based organizations sustainable. Gradually more things will unfold specially with the rural electrification assignment in jharkhand and while doing socio-economic life cycle assesment of different alternate interventions across 6 states.

Lets keep the fingers crossed.......

Moving on with mission and as we say in IRMA.... if we won't ............. who will..

I hope, one day, I too have a chance

Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different. As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel. My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked round again, and discovered more - there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths - from Islam and C hr istianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special. I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke TV dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega." We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai – the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50.” My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai, my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope, one day, I too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw: MH-02-Z-8508.

Why do we do so?

Scene:1

Mohan along with his colleague was returning back from office. Suddenly the cellphone of his colleague's rang and on the other side was his son who requested him to bring a set of color pencils. His colleague requested Mohan to get a set of color pencils from the nearby shop. Mohan bought the pencils and gave back to his colleague. His colleague took out wallet and was about to give him money to which Mohan politely refused saying its just 30 rupees, no issues.

Scene:2

Next day, Mohan had to go to a nearby water park for outing, since his bike had some trouble, so he thought to hire a rickshaw. One rickshaw fellow was going to the same side, Mohan stopped him and asked "Bhaiyya kitna paisa logo water park chalne ka". "40 rupayee de dena sahab" replied the rikshawala. "Aree 40 rupee bahut jyada bol rahe ho, wahan toh bas 20 rupaye me jaate hain" answered back Mohan. The conversation contiued for a while and finally they settled for a fare of 30 rupees.

Comment:

In the first scene Mohan let go Rs.30 very politely even when he knew that his colleague can afford to give the money but possibly because of etiquette he denied taking the money and in the scene 2 we find that. He argued with the rickshaw for a sum of Rs. 10, which possibly for richshaw fello would have been atleast 10% of the day's earning.

Whether we notice it or not we all replace Mohan in  the two scenes but never wonder why we do so when we take a richshaw we argue for 10-15 rupees, when we buy vegetables we try to get the price reduced by 4-5 rupees whereas with our colleagues and friends on the name of socialism we spend 500-1000 odd rupees without giving a second thought. 

WHY can't we be more generous with these people for whoom the small amount of money matters more ?

BAD News

In the morning, i switched on the TV for hearing  news, by chance my room partner here at gurgaon, woke up early morning and and while he was lying down on the bed heard the news for a while and then said "ye subah subah kya marne-maarne wali kahani laga rakhi, put some song channel", i was about to respond to him but then resisted from saying anything. I realized he was not wrong in his instantaneous remark. Everyday what NEWS everyone of us get whether we pick up a newspaper or listen to a news channel is full of all negative news.

I was just wondering if we can start publishing a  monthly newspaper or a newsletter atleast at the beginning and publish the good work which is being done across the country by individuals, organizations and government officials so that an option of "positive news only" can be created.

Those of you, who had been following this blog might recall an earlier attempt of e-newsletter "Samaaj" which was unfortunately discontinued due bit hectic schedule of studies at IRMA.

Now when we propose to restart ... I think this should  not only limited as e-newsletter but also as a monthly regular published newsletter. This obviously will have to be a "Not- for Profit" newsletter and would need dedicated volunteers

Team which at this moment which I can think of would be needed is

1) 4 Volunteers for news collection

2) 2 Volunteers for Editing

3) 2 Volunteers for spreading the E-newsletter across the avaialble blogs/ or other public discussion platforms

Later on when we are able to develop resources, we can begin up the monthly Published newsletter for which someone can volunteer to prepare a proposal "How we can go about it- legalities invloved in it, What kind of resources both financial and human we will need.. etc"

If u feel interested do drop in ur response

 

And I take reins from here

And I take reins from here

Before coming IRMA I was a real fighter

In quest of selfish pursuits a true warrior

But now the fighter, the warrior is lost somewhere

And I take reins from here

IRMA taught me its not necessary to fight

But its necessary to strive

Strive not for self only

Because Almighty didn’t me make me lonely

The question still fresh “Why we are here and why they are there”

And I take reins from here

IRMA sent me closer to the root to make me grounded

And the realities which I saw made me astounded

The quest still remains but not for money or fame

The quest still remains but not limited to selfish aim

The fighter has gone and the striver came

The striver has a rejuvenated soul and a new name

Let time take its own toll and unfold pages of future

And I take reins from here 

A feeble man like me has nothing more to offer

But the promise to strive for “cause” IRMA ingrained in me to work for

Everything else atleast at this moment remains dizzier

So accept Good-Bye from this “Barefoot Manger”

And I take reins from here. 

Just Think !!!

Merry Christmas

When I hear one of the most fondly quoted statement "Hate sin, not the sinner", I feel  we do have hypocrcy when there comes a similar ground for "Love good acts, not only the good doer". We as a society across the world get swayed away by hero worshipping and most of the times it happens that while we worship the hero, we forget the ethics, the prophecies, the actions that hero spoke about.

Yes !!, This is more special on this Christmas morning. Lord sent his only son Jesus, to spread the message of peace and love for everyone and its just 2000 years back & If one considers sentiments of all communities across the world, this message in one way or other was propogated by Lord Rama, Holy Paigambar, Guru Nanak, Lord Buddha & Mahavira and many other's unnamed who spread the message of humanity.

But when we look around incidents around us it makes our heart sad, the violence, the hatred of one  community against another, fight among nations and within nation........... I feel like questionining "Do we as humanity are actually  worshipping & in a way practicing those noble ideas of love & peace or  are we simply satisfying the formality of worshipping the preachers of these noble ideas and  in real sense have forgotten the cause for which they were here on earth at different point of times and in differen parts of the world".

I still dont have a answer but Every celebration be it Diwali, Id, Christmas, Holi, Gurunanak Jayanti must be making Almighty sad, not becauseGod.Ishwar/Allah doesnt like celebration and worshipping but because the real essence of peace & leave supposed to be propogated by these celebrations is somewhere getting lost. Somewhere we the God's children are at one end respecting our creator but at other end are missing the respect for peace & love he stands for !!!!

Lets along with loving the good doer, love & practice their good acts 

The Journey till now- Life Ahead

Subconsciously, its all like dots of life are joining by themselves.

I had at some corner of my heart feeling to contribute my little efforts for the marginalized & as anyone slightly interested in this would do, I wanted to enter to the civil service.

But as they as "Man proposes God disposes". ALmighty possibly had somethign else in mind. I still remember Prof. (___) came to my hostel room early morning of 18th dec, 2005 and we had a good discussion for about 2 hours. At the end he told me to stop preparing for UPSC, i was bit stunned as i had invested 3 years to this and he was asking me to leave even without giving a single trial of exam. In any case he was among most revered Prof's I had at NIT-Surat. So i told him "Sir I am ready to follow your advice but still I am curious to know why you dont want me to give even a try." His reply was possibly true to a greater extent as he understood " Sharda, i dont doubt your efforts or capability of clearing or not clearing the exam, only issue is whatever you intend to do as civil servant u can do by voluntarily. You r softhearted and you wont be able to fight crime and corruption and I fear you might not do what all u dream now". Innocently i asked him do these Voluntary organizations come for placements. He said here they don't , u take placements in any organization from here and then shift to this field in a year or two.

With this, another dimension got added up. Since the feel was soemwhere true to heart, possibly that's why my steps couldn't restrain myself from teaching kids at the Orphanage in baroda on weekends while continuing my Job at GM. As the days passed i realized, i am possibly getting the inner satisfaction of doing something beyond self, but still i was unable to contibute significantly to life of tose kids. Possibly it needs a full time devotion rather than week-end  task.

 This led me to apply for different ngo's so that i can take social work as a profession, unfortunately none of them called me up even for interview, bit tensed with this i took courage and asked the HR person of one NGO "Why r u not giving a chance for interview-afterwards you can reject me". Their reply was that my socalled profile didnt match with their requirement and i need to change it by going for masters and suggsted IRMA/TISS. Tiss dates were already over by then, fortunately i could apply for IRMA and by God's grace i got admission at this wonderful place (http://shardagautam.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-do-i-love-irma.html)

IRMA had its own deep influence & parents on the other hand didn't want me to join the developemnt world at the cost of socalled career,. Moreso my health trouble also was bothering me at some corner whether i would be able physically able to put some contribution or not.

It seems, this was the first time i got broken down completely and was on the verge of leaving the development thoughts seeign parents firm opposition and my health, But Almighty as always had far better solution which human mind can think of.

The MTS organization, where i m doing MTS, they offered me to join on a project which was a mix of field work & policy development which will not cause much strain to health and on the other hand will enable me to remain in development world. To my utter surprise, parents also don't have any objection (possibly bocz the field rural electrification matches somewhat to my fathers' field of renewable energy :) & to them name winrock doesn't sound like that of NGO for which they don't have high regards :)]

Lets see what future has in store from here. But i am happy that by grace of god, i am still with my dreams of contributing my little efforts to the marginalized & weaker section of the society.

I get reminded of Letter to elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose on September 22, 1920 by Subash Chandra Bose

"You will readily understand my mental condition as I stand on the threshold of what the man-in-the-street would call a promising career.There is much to be said favour of such a service. It solves once for all what is paramount problem for each of us -- the problem of bread and butter.One has not to go face life with risk or uncertainty as to success or failure. But for a man of my temperament who has been feeding on ideas which might be called eccentric -- the line of least resistance is not the best to follow .Life loses half its interest if there is no struggle -- if there are no risks to be taken.The uncertainties of life are not appalling to one who has not , at heart , worldly ambitions. Moreover , it is not possible to serve one's country in the best and fullest manner if one is chained to the Civil Service . In short , national and spiritual aspirations are not compatible with obedience to Civil Service Examinations."

रोटी कपड़ा और मकान बनाम Pizza Suitings and Duplex

भारत बनाम India saga

There used to be a time when India could be easily subsituted with "Bharat". So-called economic reforms began in disguise of Opening the economy under influence of Brettwood institutions and we saw India growing at an unprecedented pace which we never witnessed earlier. The quest for economic prosperity, mechanization and above all urbanization became a centre point. I cant say it was bad, but then there was happening a subtle change. India was going away from Bharat. This progress appeared to cause a drift. On one hand Bharat was moving at 2-3% growth rate and on other India was heading at 8-9% growth rate.

One insane guy who was neither in Bharat nor India (a middle class which constitutes a major chunk), intended to explore this nation (nations ?).

भारत (Bharat what he saw)

In some remote village not to far from state capital of a state, he found that electricity poles have not reached and to talk about electricity is a good joke, where parents feed their kids with "Madh"(its simply rice with about 3 times more of water not bcoz it tasted good but bcoz they didnt had enough to feed if their child asked another time for food.), where after 6 o clock in the evening, they want to remain in their home (just to ensure any naxal doesnt kill them), where if they fall ill, they can't take their dearone to hospital (not bocz they dont want but bocz nearest hospital is some 60 odd km's and they dont have money to arrange a vehicle) and so on......................... रोटी कपड़ा और मकान is still a big dream

India (India which he saw)

It was some IT-city near the capital of the nation (nations?) where let the sunset and innumerable buildings were lit with extravagent lighting, where escalators were running on some power source for the people who could easily climb up 12-15 stairs, where having food was no longer to satisy hunger but to have a change in flavor form xyz dish to abc dish, where for moving a distance of say 500 m people put fuel in their luxury cars, where for a simple cold or cough there exists a hospital (or a five star hotel) with best doctors and so on.........Pizza, suitings and duplex are in line

He got puzzled ánd asked his colleagues some of whom who have move to India and some still in Bharat (by choice or by compulsion is a different issue), none had an exact answer but inspite of all love/hate one has/had about Mr. M.K. Gandhi they admitted "Nature has produced enough to fullfill everyone's NEED but nor GREED". India's fast track growth is fully supported but lets not forget their exists a भारत in some greater parts of the nation/s, so lets take out some time/effort/resources to ensure that Bharat doesn't ask for becoming a different nation seperated out of India like we saw CG got seperated of MP or Jharkhand from Bihar on grounds of some differences.

The saga of भारत बनाम India goes on from रोटी कपड़ा और मकान to Pizza, suitings and duplex

Why Do I Love IRMA ?

“Why do I love IRMA”

The memoirs of a Participant

 

“Why do I love IRMA” is possibly a succeeding question to the most truthfully questioned and most flowerily answered J question “Why IRMA?” I am not sure how genuinely it was answered in past interviews of IRMA or will be answered in future but one thing remains precise that somewhere in the corner of our heart we have an unadulterated answer. I too had my own insane reasons which my diary quotes as

 

“I am not sure whether I would be able to contribute to underprivileged section after passing out from IRMA. I am also not sure whether this institute will be able to mould me into a capable rural manager, but I am happy that next 21 months of my life would be spent in an environment where tea-time gossips wont remain restricted to film and sports stars but will include talks about the marginalized and weaker sections , where class room discussions won’t  restrict to just increasing profits for organizations but will include humane aspect too, where exams wont test your capability of simply managing monetary aspects but will test how delicately you can integrate development (not sure what it meant then) in it.”

 With all these whims and fancies I entered into this wonderful campus. The very entry left an unforgettable mark in my memory. As per my earlier dispositions, guard at the gate was at maximum supposed to let me know the direction of hostel block, but to my utter surprise he took me to the hostel, put of my luggage from the auto rickshaw, took & filled up the empty water bottle, asked for my bed-sheet and set the things comfortable for stay of any new comer like me. I was dumb struck at the thought that if non teaching staff is so supportive then I am definitely going to have a homely stay here.

 

The Unlearning

I still remember during induction field work when we reached the GVT (Dahod) office Prof. Arvind Gupta called all of us together and told us  “Forget what you are, forget what your qualifications are.You all are simply learners and therefore spend next one week as a true learner from the so seeming illiterate inhabitants of the village.” I possibly didn’t realize it then. “The Barefoot Managers” as IRMAN’s are supposed to have humility at heart and this necessitates that the baggage of past whether its educational background or work experience must be dropped down. And this was the first and fundamental lesson for me possibly one of the most striking facet of IRMA.

 The Learning

Possibly none of the so-called management institutes would be teaching about rural livelihood systems and as obvious to most of us, things taught in this course were going above head, specially the way poor & poverty was defined with the six aspects which didn’t restrict to financial poverty. The village stay at Jharkhand possibly was waiting for another starking revelation. The discussion which  left me spell bound

We: “Whom do you rate as most poor person in Supa?”

Replies” Jharia who lives toward field is poorest person here”

We (the most obvious question): “How much land he owes”

Replies “About 6 acres”

We: “And you”

Replies: “2 acres, 1.5 acres…….”

Stunned by the reply we asked him: “Still you call him poorest in the village”

Replies: “Sahab, you won’t understand, poverty is not simply related to land size, its something more than that”

We curiously continued the discussion and got to know that Mr. Jharia Uraon had big sized land but didn’t have ox and plough, therefore during cropping season he used to work in other’s field and during non cropping season along with his wife & children used to migrate to Bengal for working in Brick making foundries. He was somehow able to save 2000-3000 a year and was planning to purchase a pair of ox and plough when he is able to collect 10000 rupees. But then came the disaster. While he was in Bengal, his wife expired and left a one week child. Somehow he took back his children and this newly born baby. In tribal community, bridegroom moves to the village of his bride and same was the case with Mr. Jharia and therefore all social contacts in the village were of his wife who was no more alive. Now with three small children, his movement for work got restricted. He now cuts and sells log of wood locally in the village when his children are  asleep. He us waiting for them to grow up and take care of themselves so that he can move out and plan for ox and plough to earn from his large farm land ( Tribal’s cant sell their land to non-tribal’s as per law).

                                                          This is what possibly Prof. Hiremath wanted to teach in RLS- a lifelong learning.

 

The unanswered question

During PRA class room sessions Prof. Arunathan (who happens to be IRMA alumnus) showed us a video in which few poor families whose daily life, their sufferings etc. was depicted. I guess more then the video Arunathan Sir’s question “Why we are here and why they are there?” moved us. Our exploration for the question is still on but in very simple terms he gave a great lesson that since we are blessed up with certain richness and ability of good education &decent salary, it’s our duty to sincerely put efforts to pull up life of fellow beings who are not equally blessed with this.

This answered question will keep on haunting me lifelong!!!!

 The IRMAN way

When I told my friends that in IRMA, if someone breaks the rule, he puts a fine himself, none of them believed.  Possibly I also wouldn’t have known the tradition of integrity which IRMA values if had not overheard talk of two kids who came with their parents during Milaap08 (Alumni Meet). The conversation of two kids was over an incident in one of the fun-stalls during Milaap.

It was an event in which glasses were kept in pyramidal form and objective was to hit them with ball and scatter all the glass tumblers. Younger Kid [about 7-8 years] tried two or three time but couldn't dismantle the lower layer and same thing happened with the elder one [i guess around 12 years], both of them sat disappointed after this.

 

Younger one told "Bhaiya u know they stick the lower layer with glue, so it never falls". Elder one thought for a while and replied him back "Yaar it might be true but my father told that in IRMA people never cheat, IRMAN's are very responsible".

 

Awesome!!! Statement touched me- If an elderly person says one may presume he may be pretending but when a child says such words--they are from the innocent Heart.

 

The Glorious Past

 During MTS at Gurgaon, one conversation left me with mixed feelings. I was new to Gurgaon and therefore with my room-mate (was staying there as PG)  at Gurgaon , I went to a restaurant and was waiting for food. Our conversation somehow took turn towards IRMA. My Room-mate co-incidentally happened to be a relative of Prof. Vishwa Vallabh (earlier Prof. at IRMA) and told me that IRMA is virtually IIM of Rural management.

 

 Before I could react, another person (he must be in his early sixties) interrupted in between and said ‘Don’t degrade IRMA by comparing with IIM. IIM’s are nothing but a drain on tax payers money. IRMA used to be ‘Harvard of Rural Management”, & I hope IRMA will keep its glory.’ With moist eyes he left the restaurant, I couldn’t even ask him his name.

 

But who-so-ever he was, his statement left me in dilemma. I should feel happy or sad about this. Happy because the roots of the institute are among the best in the world and sad because I was born too late witness the glory which he was talking about.

 

In any case, if there has crept some adulteration in the founding principles which are putting a blot on IRMA, it calls upon every one involved with IRMA be it , the Board, Alumni,  Professors, Non teaching staff & obviously the Participants to set ourselves for regaining the glorious past of IRMA “The Harvard of Rural Management”

 

And as we fondly say at IRMA

 

        “If we wont ………………..........................................

                                                                                                               who will?”

 

PS: Answer to the question “Why do I love IRMA?” possibly subtly lies somewhere in these lines which I my naïve English knowledge is unable to specify in one word.

Was that Really Bad?

Was that really bad? He wasn’t sure.

 

He had dropped out of college. He didn’t have a dorm room, so he slept on the floor in the rooms of kind friends. He sold used Coca-Cola bottles for the five-cent deposit per

 

bottle to buy food. He walked seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. But he didn’t abandon his passion. He was determined to learn calligraphy at the same.institute (Reed’s College)  He learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful and artistically subtle in a way that science couldn’t capture, and he found it fascinating.

 

Some years later, he wrote:

 

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me, and we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts, and since Windows just copied (?) the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.

 

He asked himself, “Was dropping out of college really that bad?” The answer was a firm no.

 

Life went on. In only ten years he established a great organization, characterized by an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, in the computing field. As the organization grew, he hired someone whom he thought was very talented to run the company with him. For the first couple of years, things went well. But then the two men’s visions of the future began to diverge, and eventually he had a falling out with his colleague. At the age of thirty, he was fired from his own organization because of collusion in the boardroom. The incident appeared devastating. But he didn’t stop. He discovered new ways of moving ahead.

 

Life went on, and again things turned around. Five years later, he said with joy:

 

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods in my life. During the next five years I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer-animated feature film, “Toy Story,” and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT and I returned to Apple and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance, and Lorene and I have a wonderful family together. I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine but I guess the patient needed it

 

He again asked himself, “Was that firing really bad?” The answer was a firm no.

 

By now, you might have guessed that this is not a fantasy or fable. What you have just read describes two real incidents from Steve Jobs’s life.

 

As it is with Steve Jobs, so it is with everyone on this earth. We at times label certain events as “bad” because they didn’t happen in the way that we wanted them to unfold. This could be failure in an exam, defeat in a game, loss in an election, setback in business, disappointment in love, death of a loved one, missing an important appointment, being turned down for a promotion. We cry and mourn over such “bad” incidents. We shout and scream in anger and rage.

 

But life goes on (unless we wish to end it). With the passage of time, we find that even incidents that seemed bad or tragic or upsetting have shaped our life in ways that we can only understand and appreciate much later when we look back. The learning, the experience, and the frustration of dealing with the “bad” moments in our life somewhere down the line become sources of inspiration, which help us to keep moving ahead with determination and fortitude.

 

“In the darkness of uncertainty, we see with a torchlight a limited view. But the Almighty sees in sunlight. Have faith and patience.”

 

Reflect on an apparently bad incident in your life, something that seemed most unfortunate, something that appeared to be a huge setback. For a moment, assume that it didn’t happen. Do you find that the pride and joy associated with some of your greatest achievements—or the happiness that you found at a later phase of your life—has been diminished? Do you find that you now have a different perspective when you look back at your past? All the events in our life, all the people we meet, all the problems that we face, and all the opportunities that come our way shape our future course of action. At times, one crucial event or one important individual can determine the entire course of our life. Let’s take a few pages from our notebook and “try to join the dots of life working backwards”.

 

The next time you feel like mourning over some unfortunate incident or brooding about a disappointment, stop and ask yourself, “Was that really bad?” You might be surprised at the answer to your own question. Then you will want to shout at Murphy who said, “If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something”

 

P.S. Article doesn’t intend to portray good/bad, it’s simply an attempt towards creating positive thinking in life. Article is a part of book under composition “Was that really bad”. Pl. mail your suggestions/critic at sharda.gautam@gmail.com/ sharma.pkk@gmail.com , it may helps us in improving the content of the book !!.